The Mystic Cat and Pebet : Houdong Lamboiba And Pebet
Fungawari Singbul by B. Jayantakumar Sharma

Translation by Bidyarani Thingujam *

An illustration of Folk tale 'Houdong Lamboiba And Pebet' by Bidyarani Thingujam

Long long ago in a jungle, among the bushes, a Pebet (bird) had her nest and there were several eggs waiting to be hatched. Days later, out came 7 beautiful little birdies from the eggs. As the days went on, Pebet took great care of the little birdies.

Not far from her nest there also lived a cat who claimed to have renounce the worldly pleasures and he was pretending to be a monk. Murmuring a hymn ' samu ka-kaka, lili ka-kaka '' the cat used to pass by the Pebet's nest every morning.

Seeing the Pebet's Children, he wanted to eat them but how could he when he himself claimed to be a monk. The cat then hatched a plan to eat the birdies. He tried to find one way or another to fulfil his evil intention.

One day when the cat was passing the Pebet's nest, he asked Pebet, "Pebet', Pebet answered, ''Yes, sir'' Do you think I am Handsome? At this, Pebet understood the evil intentions of the cat and if she dared him now, he would eat all her children as he was much stronger than her.

She decided to wait till her children were fully grown up. Pebet replied ''Yes, yes sir, with whom will I compare your beauty with? Your face is like red flower of a new Bamboo Plant", and like this Pebet compared the cat with many beautiful things of nature.

Hearing this, the cat was overjoyed and with a big grin he left saying, 'Take good care of your children''. Days later the cat came again and asked the same question and Pebet replied the same answer to keep the cat happy and prevent him from eating her children.

Within this period, Pebet taught her children to fly and within a period of time the birdies had learnt to fly completely. Seeing her children's development, Pebet thought it was really time to teach the mean cat a lesson. She decided to defeat the cat by using her wit.

Again some days later the cat returned and ask Pebet, "Pebet, do you think I'm handsome?'' Hearing the word, Pebet took a firm stand and started hurling abusive words at the cat "You ugly cat, your face looks like the bottom of a black pot and with that kind of face, you dared to ask how handsome you are''.

Seeing the bird's nature, the cat became so furious and decided to kill the bird and all the children, 'You frail bird, dared to fight me!'' Saying this the cat jumped over Pebet. But at that moment Pebet alerted her children and shouted loudly "My Children "Phrang, phrang".

Hearing this, all the birdies and Pebet flew over the tallest tree nearby. Unfortunately the youngest child who was not very much an expert in flying was suddenly caught by the cat and he tried to eat the bird.

At the moment, Pebet shouted from the tree top with witty words "Sir. The cat replied ''What do you want Pebet? Pebet then replied, "You are going to eat my child'' right. The cat said ''Yes''.

"But it is not the way we birds are eaten, if you do not eat the likes of us in proper manner, it will be very tasteless." The cat then asked, "Tell me the way". Pebet then said, "You first properly give the child a bath, then put the child on a banana leaf and dried it under the sun. Only after that, the taste will be delicious."

The cat perfectly followed Pebet's instruction and carefully dried the bird under the sun. When the bird got the heat of the sun, it became strong again and suddenly took to his wings leaving a blob of dung on the palm of the cat. At this, the cat was shocked and cursed himself saying "Oh! It had flown away". Then he tasted the bird's dung and said ''If this dung tasted so delicious, the body will be much tastier''.

Later the cat cursed himself again and again. Seeing the sorry figure of the cat, Pebet and her children sing a sarcastic song from the tree top, "If you have evil intentions, you will get nothing at the end".


** From Manipur folk tale Book called "Fungawari Singbul" by B. Jayantakumar Sharma